Barb and Maddy watching the homemade pita bread magically transform from balls of dough into pockets of tasty goodness:
We went for a drive
Barb and I have been on the more cautious side of the behavior spectrum in regards to avoiding risk of COVID-19. We have been going on almost daily walks but haven’t gone on any hikes in the woods and mountains like we usually would have by now. Last weekend we decided we would go for a drive and at least visit the mountains and enjoy the view of them from my car.
I found a place that looked like it had good views and we had never been. It’s the parking lot for the Alpental ski area:
It’s about a 45 minute drive from our place and I figured we could get out and walk around the parking lot some without having to worry about the whole social distancing thing on narrow trails. I expected something similar to what you see in the picture above.
We were surprised to find the parking lot almost completely full of cars with lots of people. Apparently my idea and choice of locations was not all that novel.
We managed to find a parking spot and took some pictures. There wasn’t much walking though. The weather and views were great so we accomplished our mission to get out of the house and do something a little special for our current circumstances and more like the normal we are looking forward to.
Walking across the crater
For our first year anniversary (wedding pictures here) last February we went to Kailua-Kona Hawaii. It was the first time in Hawaii for me. I wanted to wait until their stupid gun laws allowed me to carry but Barb did such an awesome job bargain shopping that travel, lodging (in a nice condo), and meals for the week came in at under $1000 (IIRC) that I decided it was worth sacrificing my principles.
It wasn’t quite what I expected. I expected numerous huge beaches. I expected jungle like forests. I expected flowing lava and blobs of red hot rocks flying through the air. I was wrong.
That doesn’t mean we didn’t see and do some really neat things. We did. The high point for me was walking across a volcanic crater. This crater:
Max’s graduation party
The RSVP’s weren’t accurate and Barb had some extra chair and table space. And the strangest thing was that virtually no one left the kitchen or family room. There were something like another 14 chairs in the dining room and a couple of card tables in the living room that no one used. They either sat around the two card tables in the family room or ate at the kitchen counter. It was more intimate, but a little odd.
Barb had lots of decorations and great food for everyone. That wasn’t without a fair amount of stress. Among other things the oven went rogue when she was trying to bake the cupcakes. It decided to broil them instead. The tops were brown and headed toward black when she noticed. Below a thin crust the cupcakes were completely liquid.
Barb made a quick dash to the store to get another cake mix and I salvaged the cupcakes for more private use by transferring them to a ceramic cup and nuking them in the microwave for one minute. They were still considerably misshapen but very edible.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was at Bill and Carolyn’s house this year. There was some apprehension about the menu after it was announced there was a South American theme.
The worries were overblown. There was only one dish, I think it was Chilean pulled pork, which wouldn’t have been at home in a typical U.S. Thanksgiving spread. The food was plentiful and good. The people were friendly and the conversations pleasant.
Here are some of the pictures:
Visit to an oasis
Growing up in north central Idaho an oasis was something I only saw in cartoons and perhaps on some television show. I have driven across the deserts of central Washington, southeastern Oregon, and Nevada many times but never came across anything similar to an oasis I would recognize from the cartoons of my childhood. They remained somewhat of a mythical place.
That changed last January when Barb and I visited the Palm Springs California area. We visited several oases in the area but by far the most interesting and pleasant were the West Fork Falls and Palm Canyon trails.
Since it has essentially the same trail head as Palm Canyon Trail and is only 0.1 miles long if you go to the Palm Canyon Trail area you must check out the West Fork Falls Trail. Barb and I were wandering around and I noticed something odd. I then began taking a bunch of pictures of the trees. Barb thought I was acting a little more strange than usual with the sudden interest in taking so many pictures of the trees. I had to explain. Check out the pictures below:
Steve Brown’s retirement and birthday party
Last night Barb and I attended Steve Brown’s retirement and 65th birthday party. I was tasked with taking pictures. Here are some of the better ones.
Continue reading “Steve Brown’s retirement and birthday party”
Knob kabob
One thing that I really like about being around smart people is the clever phrases and names they come up with to describe things.
I came home from work the other day to find Barb had brought an old cabinet home. She took the knobs off and painted them. To avoid irregularities in the paint she strung them on a wooden skewer. She then suspended the ends of the skewers on two plastic containers while the paint dried.
She called it a “knob kabob”:
Naches Peak Loop Trail
Last Sunday, after hiking the Mount Rainier Skyline Trail the day before, we hiked the Naches Peak Loop Trail. It was a much easier hike, and while very pleasant, was no comparison in the Skyline Trail. Any other day it would have been an incredible hike. But after the Skyline Trail experience it was merely great.
For the most part the trails were wide and flat. There were a few narrow and rugged spots but nothing that caused us real concern. The views were wonderful. In places the wildflower were so plentiful the air was filled with their scent even as you walked by.
Mount Rainier Skyline Trail Loop
Barb and I have visited Mount Rainier several times. There have been others but here are the ones I have blogged about:
Over the weekend we went again. This time Barb reserved a campsite (reservation required and they are booked six months in advance) so we would be closer to the Skyline Trail Loop and could get an early start and find parking. We still had to park about a half mile away from the trail head.
She has been wanting to go on this hike for years but it never seemed to work out. We took the upper loop and probably were within 2 miles of Camp Muir.
The weather was stunning. The air was clear, the temperature was pleasant, and there was no wind. The views were stunning.
